It has now become desireable to incorporate the CHAISE LOUNGER.TM. look into recliner chairs. With such a design, the upholstery covering extends continuously from the seat to the footrest. However standard footrest linkage systems have not been able to provide the necessary foot and leg support while at the same time accommodating or controlling the upholstery covering and padding when the footrest is in retracted position. This is because in one conventional styling, the upholstery dimension along the depth of the seat is 201/2 inches and the vertical dimension from the seat surface to the bottom of the ottoman board of the footrest is 151/2 inches making a total upholstery length of 36 inches. However when using standard footrest linkage mechanisms, the length dimension from the back of the seat to the front edge of the ottoman board in the extended or T.V. position of the legrest is 39 inches in order to provide the proper leg and foot support. If a 39 inch length pad is used, a 3 inch excess upholstery length results in the retracted position of the footrest when such standard linkage mechanisms are employed. This will cause wrinkling and bulging of the upholstery pad and cover detracting from the appearance. If a 36 inch length pad is used it will tear when moving to the extended position of the footrest.
One attempt to solve this problem uses elastic material sewn into the upholstery pad allowing the upholstery to stretch when in extended position and to contract when in the retracted position. This requires that the cover pad be sewn all the way into an underlying bonded fiber pad to ensure permanent placement however this increases the cost of manufacture. Moreover the elastic material approach does not necessarily totally solve the aforementioned problem.